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Bad Teeth

jerzeegirl
14 years ago

My dog Teddy has bad teeth. He's a rescue so we don't really know how old he is but the vet figures 4-5 years old (that's how old his chip is). He had brown teeth, lots of tartar. So we got his teeth cleaned about two months ago and sure enough his tartar is coming back already!

I am a little fearful of having to have his teeth cleaned even once a year because he had such an awful reaction to the anesthesia.

He has never been much of a chewer and turns his nose up at Greenies.

Is there some kind of treatment that will help prevent tartar buildup or some dental treat that is so irresistible that no dog will reject it?

Comments (7)

  • furryfriends50
    14 years ago

    Raw feeding is the best answer. Dry food isn't going to help anything...

    Check out the new facebook group on raw feeding: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=261761471359&ref=ts

    A few helpful sites:
    http://www.rawmeatybones.com/
    http://www.rawlearning.com/
    http://www.rawlearning.com/RawFeedingFAQ.pdf

  • mazer415
    14 years ago

    Call the vet, make an appointment with the dental person and have them teach you how to properly care for your pups teeth. Either with constant brushing or wiping with gauze - they should help you to keep your pups teeth clean. If they are too busy, ask a groomer. Good Luck

  • cindyb_va
    14 years ago

    Some dogs have mouths that naturally build up tartar quicker than others. Do as mazer suggests and have your vet show you how to do daily gauze wipes. We do this with our dog once a day, it's easy, it takes two minutes and it prevents costly teeth cleanings at the vet.

    Other tools you might want to consider. [1] Disposable teeth cleaning wipes for dogs. [2] Liquid teeth cleaning solutions that you add to the dog's drinking water which supposedly help tartar from building up. I have seen both of these at big box pet stores. [3] A product called Oravet. This is a product you swipe onto the gums 1x a week that supposedly prevents tartar build up. Our vet's office sells it.

    We don't use any of these, because the gauze method works well for us, but if you find you need more, those are some options for you to consider.

  • Meghane
    14 years ago

    There is really good advice already given.

    Tell your vet about the awful reaction to anesthesia. There are literally hundreds if not thousands of anesthesia protocols and there must be at least one that doesn't cause your dog such a bad reaction. You may not need it for a dental procedure, but if he needed anesthesia for something else it's good for the vet to already know that he had problems with the anesthesia protocol he already used.

  • jerzeegirl
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Thanks for all your advice. I forgot to mention that I do brush his teeth with enzyme toothpaste (CET) and he let's me do it. It's just his back molars that have tartar/plaque build up. His front and side teeth are sparkling white. I will ask my vet about the gauze wipes. I tried to find these at Petco but didn't see them. I am so sympathetic to this poor dog as I have the same problem and have to go to the dentist every 3 months for cleaning!

    I tricked him into eating a Greenie yesterday. I made believe I was eating it and this made him want to eat it. It's hard to believe but his back teeth are looking better already. If I can trick him into chewing a bone, then I think his tartar problem will be alleviated.

    Re the anesthesia. After he came back home from the teeth cleaning, he was desperate to drink water. I gave him just a tiny little bit and he started throwing up. Then he was desperately thirsty again. Every time I gave him a drop of water he would throw up. This went on from 3 pm when we brought him home to around 9 am the next morning when the anesthesia finally was out of his system. I have never seen this kind of reaction before. Very scary.
    I will have to let the vet know next time about the bad reaction because it truly was not normal.

  • Meghane
    14 years ago

    Sounds like he had morphine or hydromorphone as part of his anesthesia/analgesia. It is extremely common for dogs and cats to throw up with those drugs, though rarely do they continue vomiting that long after wards. He sounds very sensitive. Those drugs are necessary in an anesthetic protocol as others can be used for both sedation and pain control. There are many other options for your dog. Hopefully not needed...

  • Meghane
    14 years ago

    I meant to say those drugs are NOT necessary in an anesthetic protocol since others can be used for the same purpose. Whoops.